PENDLETON — A season-opening jamboree turned into a night of competitive volleyball Thursday at Pendleton High School.
Imbler, which finished second at the 1A state tournament last year, was the only team to finish 4-0, beating Umatilla 25-5, Pilot Rock 25-7, Pendleton 26-24 and Irrigon 25-11.
The host Bucks went 3-1, beating Stanfield 25-14, Heppner 25-21, and Weston-McEwen 25-20 in the final match of the day.
Caitlin Cooley led Pendleton with 39 assists, while MJ Gomez had 21 kills, Braelyn Gunter 17 kills, Olivia Allen six blocks, McKinley Moore had 13 digs, and McKinley Lieuallen served for 16 points and had three aces.
Weston-McEwen also went 3-1, beating Umatilla 25-12, Riverside 25-8 and Stanfield 25-19.
“It was a good night of volleyball,” W-M coach Marie Cain said. “We served tough and had some great defensive and offensive work tonight. A solid defensive showing from my three defensive players.”
Cain said the TigerScots played right with Pendleton, but unforced errors were their downfall.
“We almost got Pendleton,” Cain said. “We had a stretch of five or six points of unforced errors that dug us a hole we had to work back out of. Just a little too deep to come out on top, but it was a close one.”
On the night, Charlotte Hansell led the TigerScots with 17 kills, four digs and three aces, while Addy Hall had 36 assists and five kills, Reagan Pickard eight kills and two aces, Eloise Hansell four aces, Megan McLouth 10 digs, Bree Perkins 12 digs and Brianna Romero four aces and eight digs.
Pilot Rock faced off against two of the top 2A teams in Imbler and Heppner, losing 25-7 and 25-8. The Rockets also lost 25-7 to Irrigon and 25-16 to Stanfield.
On the night, Gracee Hemphill had four kills and 10 digs, while Abby Bensel had 17 digs, and Kessa Litfin had seven digs and five assists. In the match against Stanfield, Hemphill, Jada Deist, Stevee Osborn and Abbigail Johnson all had an ace.
Girls soccer
PENDLETON AT GLADSTONE JAMBOREE — The Bucks split their games at the Gladstone Jamboree, dropping a 1-0 game to Cascade, then beat Seaside 2-0. Each game was 30 minutes.
“It was nice to get some jitters out and see how the team looks,” Pendleton coach Katherine Ryder said. “Our first game was a little scattered. The second game was better once we figured how to play with each other. Our defense played amazing, and our keepers didn’t get to see much action because our defense was so good. The second game, there was just one shot on goal.”
Against Seaside, Ava Jackson scored for the Bucks off an assist by Presley Greenwalt. The second goal was an own goal by Seaside.
“Autumn (Severe) had a really good stop against Seaside,” Ryder said. “It was high and the sun was in her eyes and she still managed to get it.”
The Bucks are back in action Tuesday at The Dalles.
Boys soccer
THE DALLES 5, PENDLETON 2 — Freshman Antony Tarapues and Easton Dressler scored second-half goals, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Bucks lost to the visiting Riverhawks in a nonleague match.
“It was a big improvement from the last two years,” Pendleton coach Kaden Clark said. “We played a good game. We were down 4-0 at the half, then came out and won the second half. It was cool to see. I’m excited to see where we go from here.”
Trailing 4-0 to start the second half, Tarapues scored off an assist by Miles Johnson to put the Bucks on the board.
“He did a great job,” Clark said. “I think as he gets a little more comfortable at the varsity level we’ll see more from him.”
The Dalles scored to make it 5-1, and Dressler finished the scoring, picking up a loose ball off a shot by Jack DeGrofft and putting it in the net.
Pendleton goalkeeper Thor Case finished the game with six saves.
The Bucks are back on the field Tuesday at Riverside.
